P1CID.E — TlIK AVOODPECKERS. 525 



moil. (Report of an Expedition down tlie Ziini and Colorado liivers, 

 Zoology, p. 89.) Wilson only met with it in the jiine wood.s of Xorth Caro- 

 lina, Georgia, and South Carolina, and doe.s not appear to have heen ac- 

 (piainted with its habits. Audubon .speaks of it as being found aliundantlv 

 from Te.xas to Xew Jersey, and as far inland as Tennessee, and as nowhere 

 more numerous than in the i)ine barrens of Florida, Georgia, and the Caro- 

 linas. He found these birds mated in Florida as early as January, and 

 engaged in preparing a breeding-place in February. The nest, he states, is 

 not unfrequently bored in a decayed stnnqj about thirty feet high. The eggs 

 he describes as smooth and pure white, and as usually four in number, 

 though he has found as many as six in a nest. The young crawl out of their 

 holes l3efore they are able to fl}', and wait on the bi-anches to receive the food 

 brought by their parents until they are able to shift for themselves. During 

 tlie breeding-season the call of these birds is more than usually lively and 

 petulant, and is reiterated through the jDiue woods where it is chiefly 

 found. 



Wilson compares the common call-notes of these birds to the cpierulous 

 cries of young birds. His attention was iir.st directed to them by this 

 peculiarity. He characterizes the species as restless, active, and clamorous. 



Though almost exclusively a Southern species, and principally found south 

 of North Carolina, individuals have been known to wander much farther 

 north. Mr. G. N. Lawrence obtained a specimen of this bird in Hoboken, 

 N". J., opposite New York City. 



In quickness of motion this Woodpecker is said to be equalled by very 

 few of the family. J\Ir. Audubon states that it glides upwards and sideways, 

 along the trunks and brandies, on tlie lower as well as the upper sides of 

 the latter, moving with great celerity, and occasionally uttering a short, shrill, 

 clear cry, that can be heard at a considerable distance. Mr. Audubon kept 

 a wounded one several days. It soon cut its way out of a cage, and as- 

 cended the wall of the room as it would a tree, seizing such spiders and 

 insects as it was able to hnd. Other than this it would take no food, and 

 was set at liberty. 



In the stomach of one dissected were found small ants and a few minute 

 coleopterous insects. In Florida it mates in January and nests in February. 

 In the winter it seeks shelter in holes, as also in stormy weather. Mr. 

 Audubon states that it occasionally feeds on grain and on small fruits. 

 Some go to the ground to searcli for those that have fallen from trees. They 

 are always found in pairs, and during the breeding-season are very pugna- 

 cious. 



An egg of this species obtained near Wilmington, N. C, by Mr. N". Giles, 

 measures .95 liy .70 of an inch. It is pure white, appeared less glossy than 

 the eggs of most Woodpeckers, and was of a more elliptical shape. An- 

 other egg of this bird sent to me by Mr. Samuel Pasco of Monticello, Fla., 

 measures .98 by .70 of an inch, being even more oWong in shape, and cor- 



